We now know that the Pacific Northwest has experienced forty-one subduction-zone earthquakes in the past ten thousand years. If you divide ten thousand by forty-one, you get two hundred and forty-three, which is the average amount of time that elapses between earthquakes. We are now three hundred and fifteen years into a two-hundred-and-forty-three-year cycle. When the next full-margin rupture happens in the Pacific Northwest, everything west of Interstate 5, including Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Eugene, Salem (the capital city of Oregon), Olympia (the capital of Washington), and some seven million people will suffer the worst natural disaster in the history of North America. FEMA projects that nearly thirteen thousand people will die in the Cascadia earthquake and tsunami. Another twenty-seven thousand will be injured, and the agency expects that it will need to provide shelter for a million displaced people, and food and water for another two and a half million…

pla·ce·bo: A placebo is a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment for a disease or other medical condition intended to deceive the recipient. Sometimes patients given a placebo treatment will have a perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition, a phenomenon commonly called the placebo effect. The placebo effect consists of several different effects woven together, and the methods of placebo administration may be as important as the administration itself…

On May 16, 1986, a deranged couple entered the Cokeville Elementary School. They took those inside hostage and detonated a bomb in a first grade classroom. While the couple died, the 167 people — 150 children and 17 adults — they took hostage all miraculously survived. How? The children claimed that angels came down through the ceiling of classroom and protected them…

What happens when we die? Does reincarnation exist? Are near-death experiences simply hallucinations created by electrical surges in the brain? Or do near-death experiences (NDEs) provide intriguing glimpses into the great beyond? Probing these and other mysteries is “Proof,” a medical drama starring Jennifer Beals and Matthew Modine. The 10-episode first season premieres June 16 on TNT…

As human beings, we all have the tendency to focus too strongly on the vertical, spiritual side of our natures, or too strongly on the horizontal, human side of our natures. In order to live healthy, happy, balanced lives, we have to balance and integrate these two forces. When we swing too far one way or the other it’s only a matter of time before we get into serious trouble. This situation that arose around Andrew Cohen is a text-book case of what can happen if vertical and spiritual perspectives are overemphasized…

At the University of Virginia, a space is given to the scientific investigation of strange phenomena that challenge currently accepted scientific assumptions. Such phenomena include extrasensory perception (such as telepathy), apparitions and deathbed visions, poltergeists, experiences of persons who come close to death and survive (usually called near-death experiences), out-of-body experiences, and claimed memories of previous lives. Dr. Bruce Greyson is one of the several scientists who work in this Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), and his specialty is near-death experiences…

The advice, whether from Shakespeare or a modern self-help guru, is common: Be true to yourself. New research suggests that this drive for authenticity — living in accordance with our sense of self, emotions, and values — may be so fundamental that we actually feel immoral and impure when we violate our true sense of self. This sense of impurity, in turn, may lead us to engage in cleansing or charitable behaviors as a way of clearing our conscience…

After cheating death three times, Ben Breedlove, 18, finally lost his life on Christmas night after suffering from a heart attack. But not before he recorded videos of his life and near-death experiences and how at peace he felt when he believed he was leaving the world…

David Spangler writes: “Just as we inhabit an invisible world of bacteria and microbes which can affect us, so we also inhabit an invisible world of subtle, non-physical energies (much of which we produce through our thinking and feeling) that can also affect us. Realizing this and taking it into account when thinking about how we can serve the wellbeing of the world is, I believe, a critical and vital step that is as needed in our time as the germ theory of disease was two hundred years ago…”

David Sunfellow writes: “Let me cut to the chase: Wesley Wyatt is the most skilled person I know at dream work and dream interpretation. His abilities with dreams arise out of a lifetime of working with his dreams and the dreams of others. I know because I’m his brother. We not only learned how to work with our dreams together, but we have spent four decades sharing dreams and honing our skills. Whether you are someone new to dreams and dream work, or a seasoned veteran, everyone can benefit from the treasures my brother has collected over the years. Do yourself a favor. Buy his books. And then buy a few copies to share with those you love. While we are all born with angelic companions, in the form of dreams, only those who actually know how to work with these powerful, magical forces can make the most of their gifts. My brother can show you how to tap the same forces that have guided, protected, healed, and inspired many of humankind’s most celebrated dreamers. The Alchemy of Dreams, in other words, are spiritual dynamite. These books contain pearls of great price that can make everything better, deeper, healthier, happier.”

Stuart Sharp saw a vision of the musical masterpiece in his mind after his baby son Ben died 35 years ago. A self-trained musician who slept on the streets for a decade, he is now hailed a genius after writing The Angeli Symphony…